Tantra yoga teaches that the body is a place of worship and the senses can bring ecstasy and enlightenment - hence its connection with the pleasure principle of the sacral chakra.

The second chakra is a point of duality - where opposites coexist and movement begins. Tantra reflects this duality, originating from the worship of  the she-and-he hindu deities Shakti (dynamic, creative, feminine) and Shiva (static, destructive, masculine).

Tantra is often associated with tantric sex, which is  a sensual, spiritual form of sex. But these sexual practices are actually just one part of tantra and are actually more accurately described as neotantra. Tantra means "to weave" in Sanskrit, and classical tantra is all about reaching spiritual enlightenment through connecting with your energy. This traditional understanding of tantra is the heart of tantric yoga.

Traditional tantra yoga focuses on internal connection and reflection, with physical flexibility, strength, and prior knowledge of the postures taking a backseat to the primary intention of self-knowledge and empowerment.

In this practice, there is no explanation on how to execute the asanas. Simply glance over the names (even if many are unfamiliar to you), and look a the shapes. At first this can be confusing and make you a little irritated, but push pass this and find freedom in being able to close your eyes and focus fully on your practice without the distraction of a teacher’s cues. Discover what feels good to you in each moment of your practice and trust that. Instead of doing the yoga, just be yoga.

To open up this chakra, and release any negative energy stored, I’ve offered some deep hip openers, and poses that strengthen the muscles around the pelvis, hips and buttocks. Throw in a Chandra Namaskar (moon salutation) and make sure you allocate time to play!

Poses that strengthen the legs, feet, and pelvic floor nourish the root chakra by building grounding energy. When performing these asanas, stand firmly on the Earth, root down through all four corners of your feet, pulling Earths energy upwards to nourish the entire body.

As y’all know, it always saddens me to miss out on, or worse, have to cancel a yoga class, but unfortunately the rain just wasn’t going to hold off. So here is a Yin flow for you to follow at home, a playlist, and a guided tune in for you to get grounded in your roots. Hope you enjoy

Root Chakra Playlist

As Kriyā yoga is the yoga of action, your task for our final week is to interface with the three tenets via your experiences in studio, and off the mat. These journal sheets can be used as a daily action log that includes the 3 distinct components mirroring the three tenets: 

• The Daily Action becomes your tapas or discipline

• The Intention for the chose action puts īsvarapranidhāna into practice by exercising quality of action

• Your reflection of the action enacts svādhyāya

I have pre-filled one of the journal sheets to give you an example of living your yoga on the mat and off it.

So relating to your yoga practice you might choose:

• Take 12 conscious breaths

• Do a guided meditation

• Learn a challenging yoga pose

• Create a small flow

• Learn some yogic philosophy

Relating to your daily action off the mat you might choose:

• Call a close friend

• Read a chapter of a book

• Get organised with meals + shopping lists

• Dedicate a small amount of time to doing something for myself

Of course these are only examples, you can choose whatever you like, and every day presents the opportunity for a new action. So save, screenshot and print off 5-7 sheets, and get ready put your yoga into action with me next week!

These days, self exploration typically is done in tiny, fragmented ways. For your body, you might take a yoga class or workout at the gym. For your mind, you take a short course, or read a good book. For your personal development you might undertake some healing therapy or see a counsellor. Study of the self needs an integral approach and doesn’t come from simply reading one self help book, or listening to a podcast, or taking a yoga class. Self-study comes from personal experience- knowing what your mind is doing, feeling what your body is feeling - every single day. Self study is when you examine what is inside you. It’s when you take the time to return to yourself, and reveal yourself, to yourself. In yoga, there are at least four developmental stages to this process. The below worksheet is a framework for svādhyāya, and for carrying you throughout your day.

Take the time to print 2 copies, and use one to practice svādhyāya on the mat, and the other for off the mat.

For those of you who have been attending my classes over the last 6 months, you’ll know very well how much I like to shake things up. The transitions ( the flow between and connection of movement to postures) have become just as important as the asanas chosen for that class. Whilst the poses can challenge us physically, the transitions bring a mentally challenging component to each session, so it’s not just your body getting a work out, your brain does too.

It’s within these wacky transitions or your not so traditional flows, that each of us are developing better proprioception.

PROPRIO WHAT?

Proprioception is basically how your brain “thinks” your body looks like and how it moves in space. This representation of your body is like an internal GPS that is created using a lot of data, including info the brain gets from our sensory receptors when we move. The brain uses it every time you move so that you do so as accurately as possible without necessarily having to look at your body. So basically, the more we move in different directions and positions, the better our proprioception becomes. For example, if you are right-handed, the map your brain has of your right hand is really detailed because you use it all the time in different situations. However, the map of your left hand, might be a little less fine-tuned which is why you may not have as much dexterity with it.

One of our students who attends several classes a week and I got chatting one morning after class. This student is usually at the front of the class for better acoustics, but on this particular day that normal spot had been taken. So naturally I checked in after to see how she could hear me. She said to me that “some parts were harder to hear, but it actually didn’t matter, because without even looking up or hearing your direction, it’s as if my body already new exactly where to go “ this made me so damn happy! because this is exactly the internal movement maps I want you to create. Now I should state for the record too, that this wasn’t transition was just your standard - upward dog to downward dog, or warrior 3 to eagle - it was 3 tricky and unusual poses that you wouldn’t often see strung together. But she did this effortlessly, guided by her own intuition/ mapping that’s occurred from all the work she does on the Mat several days a week, every week.

Vinyasa yoga really offers us this perfect opportunity to disrupt routines: how we use the mat, how me move from pose to pose, changing the pace, etc. Repetition, while good for performance, diminishes our sensing capacity because the brain knows what’s coming next. Novelty and variety keep our inner listening skills sharp.

While it’s fun to flow effortlessly through a few rounds of sun salutations or a familiar seated sequence, it does so much more for your brain and body to navigate new ways to get into familiar poses, or even combining poses together ( ex. Thread the kneedle X 3 legged dog ) so you can work the body in many angles.

Have a little fun at home by travelling on and beyond your Mat with the following: ( you can also slow the video down below and watch, if you’re a more visual learner ).

Ashwa Sanchalanasana (RUNNERS LUNGE) to—> Ardha Matseyndrasana 2 ( HALF SEATED TWIST 2) to —> eka pada Adho Mukha Svanasana ( 3 Legged Dog ) to —> Ardha Matsyendrasana 2 ( HALF SEATED TWIST 2) to - Ashwa Sanchalanasana ( RUNNERS LUNGE )

to—> Vasisthasana ( SIDE PLANK )

to —>Camatkarasana ( WILD THING )

As long as you aren’t applying hefty loads, you have a solid understanding of the poses and good knowledge of anatomy, it’s OK to break yoga alignment “rules” so that the body learns to adapt to a variety of situations.

Don’t stress if vinyasa yoga isn’t your Jam, practicing Yin yoga also has the ability to help increase proprioception and here is why.

Yin offers a different approach to our yoga practice, here we looking to affect the joints and the fascia rather than the muscles. For me, one of the most intriguing features of fascia is that it‘s the largest and most wired sensory organ in the body. The extracellular matrix contains more nerve endings than our tongue and our eyes! So if the primary feature of a yoga practice is that it supports the mind-body connection, then fascia is the physical gateway for that connection.

As the principle facilitator of our sense of touch, fascia is the organ that cultivates proprioception and interoception, or presence manifest in the body. Sarah Powers, refers to it as “body-based consciousness.” When we practice movement with intention and attention, we promote fascia health by increasing its sensing capabilities. Increased proprioception and interoception helps us to feel more present and connected.

So why should improving proprioception be a high priority for you?

Well firstly, you become better at moving.�The better your map, the better your brain can decide and predict how you will move. Typically, professional dancers, martial artists, gymnasts and other high performance athletes have great body maps. On the other side of the spectrum, someone with compromised proprioception (neurological accident, use of alcohol, etc) might not move with as much ease or accuracy. You may not be aspiring to be an athlete but you don’t want to have poor posture and feel like our body is older than it is, so training proprioception is key. And if you’ve a got poor proprioception, you might be a little clumsy, and not as quick to react and as a result be more prone to injury, and injuries suck balls!

And if you’re reading this and thinking I want to do something to improve mine, but yoga isn’t your thing, then there are many other ways you can. I challenge you to give some of these a crack for the next week, check in with yourself and see how you feel.

1. Move as much as possible in novel ways all throughout your day.

2. You are how you move. Try to balance your proprioception so that your map becomes as accurate a representation of your body as possible. For example, if you are right handed, try to do things with your left hand and leg more often. If you like doing a sport that tends to have a repetitive motion, the active body parts will have better proprioception but not the rest of your body. When you move, make sure you are not just doing the same movements over and over again. Introduce spontaneity into your workouts. Change up the angles, the positions, the transitions, the load or even the environment you practice. And if you love a sport that is very “repetitive” like running or spinning, try incorporating other workouts as well to further develop your body awareness. Yoga aside other fitness methods that are amazing for full body proprioception include: dance, martial arts, the Feldenkrais method, NeuroPilates, TAM, and Parkour. Also using props like a balance board, trigger point balls and yin balls can further stimulate your receptors and lead to better proprioception.

3. Focus. The saying “where your mind goes, energy flows” comes to mind. Pay attention to your movement – whether you are trying to correct your golf swing or doing a yoga pose, focus on things like where you are putting your weight, the positioning, the rhythm, how balanced you feel, etc. The more you bring attention to these details, the more your brain gets data on your body’s movement.

4. Use a mirror. Mirrors are a wonderful way to see how you are moving. If you struggle with a pose or learning a dance, Try it in front of a mirror, and look to see what you are doing – in most cases, you can correct your form almost immediately. If you don’t have mirrors you can always video yourself too. This is also a great technique because it makes you realise what your gait and posture are like and what you need to correct. Again, this is sending your brain a lot of information that will improve your proprioception.

5. Do what it takes to heal your injuries: and I mean real injuries (not just old age, or sore knees). In my experience, past injuries are a common reason for people to shy away from exercising so please, if you get injured, invest the time and effort needed to heal. Proprioception takes a hit when you get injured because your “danger” signals are louder than your proprioceptive ones. This in turn makes you use your injured body parts less, which reduces the nervous signaling for that area, which further decreases your proprioception…then comes chronic pain…and there is soo much more you can learn about the link between chronic pain and poor proprioception, but you get the jist of it. If you have an injury, let it properly heal and rehabilitate yourself slowly but surely.

6. Disrupt your routines; drive a different route to work, try a different coffee shop, use your left hand on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, try a different diet, shower at a different time of day etc - there’s so many ways you can shake things up, and who knows you might find you enjoy the new ways betters. If you do happen to notice a shift, an expansion in your brain - let me know!

Histamine plays a role in our immune and digestive systems, and helps our neurological function.

Our body naturally produces this chemical, but it can also be found in food.

Some people are less tolerant of histamine – as they have too much of it in their system. This may be because they lack an enzyme called diamine oxidase (DAO), which breaks down histamine in the body.

People may lack DAO due to interference by medications or if they have a gut disorder. Some foods also block the release of DAO, such as coffee and chocolate. 

So how common is it? A 2020 review noted some researchers estimate histamine intolerance affects 1 to 3 per cent of the population.

However given research into this area is still relatively new, the incidence may increase as more is understood about the issue and diagnostic tools improve.

There are no standard blood tests to identify intolerance, so an elimination diet is the “gold standard” to identifying a problem. This involves removing high-histamine foods, histamine liberating foods and DAO blocking foods from your diet and slowly adding them back in, one at a time. This should be done under the guidance of  a qualified nutritionist, naturopath or dietitian who specialises in food intolerances.

Unlike allergies, you may be able to tolerate a certain amount of histamine, but once when you reach beyond a threshold, you’ll develop symptoms.

Symptoms include:

• Headaches + Migraines

• Skin irritations ( acne, pimples, itching, eczema, redness, blotching)

• Diarrhoea

• Sinus problems

• Fatigue

• Hives

• Digestive problems

• Nausea or vomiting

• Dizziness.

The list of foods to avoid/moderate is quite extensive, so when you cut out certain foods, you really need to ensure you still have nutritional balance in your diet, otherwise you’ll miss out on some key macro + micro nutrients. For example, if you follow a low-histamine diet you may not have certain fruits and veg such as spinach, strawberries, tomatoes and oranges; which are a great source of Vitamin C. So, you need to increase intake of low histamine fruits and vegetables that contribute to vitamin C intake such as broccoli, capsicum, white and sweet potatoes. In addition to this, you’ll want to consume foods that are high in Quercetin; an antioxidant that that possesses antihistamine effects. It is found naturally in lots of foods, but red onions, broccoli and and green apples are the safe go to’s with a low histamine diet.

Histamine intolerance and the dietary protocols that need to be put in place go well beyond a social media or blog post. If you think this is an issue for you, or you need assistance with cleaning up you diet, get in contact to book a consult with me when I return mid June.

If you have been experiencing any of the above symptoms, there may be other underlying issues at play, but it doesn’t hurt to test out an elimination diet.

Whether you think you might have histamine in tolerance or just looking to clean up your diet and hit the reset button - then check out my simple 6 Day Low Histamine Nutrient Boost Body Reset Plan. 

I’ll be honest with you, it’s not as exciting as my usual plans and recipes, and there’s a little prep involved at the beginning and middle of the week, but once it’s done, you’ve got yourself a freezer full of healthy foods to help you hit the reset button , all while flooding the body with nutrients 👊 . I’ve taken the guess work out for you, follow the instructions below, no need to remember anything - just only consume what’s detailed in the plan :).

• please note, the roobios almond latte is totally optional, it’s to have in place of coffee or a hot chocolate.

• You could also double the qty’s for each meal so that you don’t have to prep twice in a week.

• If you do follow the plan to a tee I’d love to hear your feedback, simply download the PDF or save the images below to your desktop or device

SUGGESTIONS:

Take a few rounds of cat/cow, and do some wrist stretches prior to commencing.

36 x Sun Salutation A

36 x Sun Salutation B

36 x Sun Salutation C

OR

10 x Creative Salutation 3

10 x Half Sun Salutes

15 x Sun Salutation C

6 x Creative Salutation 5

20 x Sun Salutation A

10 x Creative Sun Salutation  4

15 x Sun Salutation B

10 x Golden Seed Salutation

4 x Creative Salutation 1

4 x Creative Salutation 2

4 x Freestyle

Over the next few weeks I’m placing dieting under the microscope. Knowledge is power, and I’m hoping this series of posts empower you to make healthy decisions for your unique self.

Having a healthy relationship with your health isn’t just physical, it’s mental too, and in the early stages of changing up your diet, any kind of extra encouragement can make the difference between you staying disciplined with your plan or giving it up entirely.

If you’ve ever dipped your toe in dieting and experienced fast weight loss in the early stages; there’s a good chance that what you’ve lost is water weight. You may have had friends or family dismiss your efforts by telling you “ its only water weight”.

Now, if you’re less bloated, or weigh less on the scales; be it water weight or not, this is going to make you feel good, and might just be the encouragement you need in order to stay focused. So don’t be discouraged when someone tells you this. Keep in mind though, that this is also not necessarily as a result of some wonderous new diet, so my advice is this

“Don’t be dumb, but also don’t be discouraged “. 

So what exactly is water weight? and what causes us to retain it and/or how can we get rid of it? 

Water weight is when fluid that would normally go to your kidneys, collects and retains in your tissues causing them to swell.

There are a number of factors that can cause water retention: diet, hormones , genetics, medications, travel, etc - but for now let’s just look at diet, hormones and lifestyle.  

SALT + CARBOHYDRATES:

One of the biggest culprits, is too much salt in your diet. Sodium binds with water and keeps it trapped in the body. The higher the sodium in the diet, the more fluid retention a person will have.

Carbohydrates can also have an impact on fluid retention. The carbohydrates we don’t use right away for energy we store as glycogen. Each gram of stored glycogen is bound to approximately 3-4 grams of water, and water is heavy. So the more glycogen we are storing, the more water we are taking in. Moreover, any kind of diet that restricts carbohydrate intake, will result in a rapid loss of glycogen, and for all lost glycogen, we also lose accompanying water - and hence weight.

A SIDE NOTE ON GLYCOGEN: If you use up your body's glycogen stores (as when dieting and/or with prolonged exercising), a lot of water is released over a short amount of time.

It only takes a few days of dieting for glycogen to be expended, so the initial weight loss is dramatic. Loss of water can lead to loss of inches. However, as soon as you eat enough carbohydrates (sugars or starches), your body readily replaces its glycogen stores. 

(Low Carb, Keto, Paleo, Low Sodium, Fasting, Juice Fasting, SIRT, Calorie restricting) - I’m drawing the lines, and hope you are connecting the dots.

DEHYDRATION:

After learning that water is heavy, you might be thinking that putting extra water into your body would add more water weight. Well, actually quite the opposite. When our bodies feel starved for water, it will hold onto whatever water it has. Not only should you pay attention to the amount of water you  consume, but also the foods/drinks that promote dehydration. Tea, coffee, alcohol, sugary drinks and packaged/processed foods are all dehydrating.

Conventional keto aside, ’m yet to find any diet that doesn’t encourage drinking lots of filtered water, or limiting/removing sugar, packaged/processed foods. 

Most diets ( The SIRT diet excluded), will also encourage you to avoid coffee and alcohol, or limit you to black coffee. 

Eating foods that have a high water content will also help to increase overall hydration, which will ultimately help your body excrete water. Some of these foods include: Celery, cucumber, spinach, kale, parsley,lettuce, zucchini, tomatoes, strawberries, melons. Furthermore, eating potassium-rich foods like tomatoes and sweet potatoes (and most fruits and vegetables) can also help you get rid of excess salt.

If you’re on a diet at the moment or been on any in the past, did these foods feature in it? 

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY:

It’s a no brainer that Physical activity is key to losing weight; especially if you are putting in less than you put out. But if you’re expending more energy than you are putting into your body, the first weight you’ll lose is water weight. Similar to what was discussed before with carbohydrates, the energy source your body turns to once it runs out of its relatively small store of sugars is glycogen. Ergo, loss of glycogen, results is loss of accompanying water - and hence weight.

Whether you are trying to lose weight or simply improve your health, you should be incorporating at least 30minutes of physical activity into your day. Most diets or programs will also encourage this.

HORMONES:

Many women retain water weight the week before their period. Estrogen and progesterone: the two main female sex hormones, have a lot of influence on fluid regulation in the body. So as these hormones fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, they can cause gains and losses in water weight.

Long term stress can increase the hormone cortisol, which directly influences fluid retention and water weight. This could be because both stress and cortisol increase antidiuretic hormone (ADH), a hormone that controls water balance in the body. Water retention as a result of elevated cortisol levels isn’t common, but it can happen. If you control your stress levels, you will maintain a normal level of ADH and cortisol, which is important for fluid balance and long-term health and disease risk.

Ladies, as a general rule I would never weigh myself around the time of my cycle. 

Most diets, “wellness programs/challenges, body resets, etc are all modelled on the same foundations. Eat plenty of colourful vegetables & fruit, get adequate clean protein, exercise regularly, drink plenty of water, and get a good 6-8hours sleep.

It’s important to note that all of these things will help you  reduce stress,  help you maintain normal cortisol levels and reduce inflammation within the body. That’s not to say this isn’t sound advice ( it is! ), it’s just not anything new!

So the next time you need to shed a kilo or two, please don’t sign yourself up to the first fancy new thing that pops up in your newsfeed. Be smart, be honest with yourself, look at what you’re eating, what you’re not eating, how much you’re moving and how well you’re hydrating , and start making changes there.

 Until next weeks instalment: stay happy, healthy and well ✌🏽 

Metta or Maitrī is one of the four Brahma Viharas or the four immeasurables - Metta/loving kindness, joy, compassion and equanimity. The principle of metta is to wish for true happiness for ourselves and everyone, and to respect the life we already have.

Set aside 5minutes, and come join me for this beautiful meditation.